New rail tunnel

Zurich main station gets bigger

Zurich main station, Switzerland’s largest train station, has become even bigger. A second underground through station has opened at Löwenstrasse - the heart of a CHF2 billion ($2.2 billion) cross-city link project. (SRF 10 vor 10, swissinfo.ch)

Around 400,000 people a day get on or off the train in Zurich station, with numbers predicted to rise to more than half a million by 2025. The new cross-city link, the result of almost seven years’ work and 9.6 kilometres long, is aimed at dealing with this increase.

There are two parts: to the west, tracks will run across two new bridges to Zurich Altstetten – this is slated for opening in 2015. To the east, the Weinberg tunnel will connect the main station with Oerlikon. The public are invited to view this section on 14 June but trains will not run through it until 15 June.

As the video shows, the link is a major feat of engineering. The Löwenstrasse station, for example, is situated 16 metres under tracks 4-9. Overall it is the biggest ever innercity rail project in Switzerland.